Meklit

Meklit Hadero is an Ethio-American singer/songwriter whose enchanting music combines jazz, folk, and soul, with an emphasis on Ethio-jazz and the traditions of her East African heritage. After debuting in 2010, she built up an international profile, serving as a Senior TED Fellow and spearheading the Arba Minch Collective the Nile Project. Amid various artist residencies and commissions, Meklit released genre-diverse albums like 2014's We Are Alive and 2017's ambitious When the People Move, The Music Moves Too which featured the Preservation Hall Horns and fiddler Andrew Bird. Increasingly, her career has diversified to encompass complementary roles as a cultural strategist, ambassador, advocate, and pioneering artist. She worked with Grammy-winning songwriter Dan Wilson on the 2024 EP Ethio Blue, then signed with Smithsonian Folkways to release the multi-lingual A Piece of Infinity in 2025.